After a long and disappointing tournament on Lake Champlain recently, I was back on the water today with Joe for more smallie action. He hadn’t caught too many of these bronze beasts before and was in for a real treat! We were blessed with beautiful weather & sunny skies almost all day long. Air temps went into the low 70’s and the water temps were around 61 degrees, depending on where we were. Light winds from the S/E turned to heavier winds from the N at the end of the day, but the fishing was great. We mixed it up a little with deep water being the best areas we were to encounter. The shallower water produced some big fish, but the majority of them were rather spooky in the sunshine. Tubes, spider grubs and senko’s were about all we needed to use today as Joe learned several new techniques. The 20 to 30 foot range proved to give up more of the bigger fish in the 4 to 5+ size, so we concentrated mostly there. By the end of the day, there had to be between 40 & 50 smallies landed and plenty more missed or just lost. Overall, a great day on the water!!

I had the pleasure of fishing with Jeff once again, for the past three days. To say the fishing was good would have been an understatement! Day one saw beautiful sunny skies and temps that went into the 80’s by afternoon. Light winds from the S/E caused only a ripple and the water temps were around 64 degrees. Jeff started the day out with his first hook-up in under a minute when a 3 pounder inhaled his tube in 25 feet of water. This was the kind of day that was to continue as fish after fish fell victim to our offerings on each & every drift we made. There had to be at least 35 fish landed up to 5 pounds by the time we called it quits. Day 2 proved to be quite similar as Jeff managed a 5 pounder immediately on the first drift once again. The weather was somewhat different though as we had light drizzle that eventually turned to rain. Our air temps fell overnight & we were only in the mid 60’s by afternoon. Fortunately, the rain was here & there and most of it was spent in the clouds. Water temps remained the same as we fished deep as well as shallow. A few good fish over 4 pounds were caught on senko’s in the shallows but it was the deep water & tubes that consistently produced for us. We ended the day on a high note as Jeff landed another 4.5 pound smallie on our last drift. What a day once more! The total count must have been equal to yesterday as neither of us could remember by the time we headed out. Day 3 was to prove to be somewhat different as we opted for another body of water. With sunshine and clouds expected to move in later in the afternoon with winds of 25 knots, we opted for a body of water that provided some shelter. Water temps were around 65 to 66 degrees and the air temps remained about the same as we began. It took a little longer before we were able to hook-up & the first 3 pounder came from deeper water once more. It seems that everywhere I fish lately, the better fish are at least 20 feet deep! Once we began, several others were caught as well before we relocated. Almost each & every spot we fished produced at least one fish and a few areas had multiple hook-ups. Unfortunately, Jeff lost his best fish of the day when she went airborne & threw the spinnerbait. Overall a tougher day with around 20 fish seen up & over 5 pounds once more. The fall fishing has definitely not began quite yet as the fish are still remaining deep! It will only get better in the weeks to come!!

I fished with Jack today on a local lake for smallies and had quite an interesting day. The weather was a spectacular sunny day with air temps reaching into the 70’s and no wind. Water temps were around the 63 degree range in most areas and the bass were deep. The bulk of the fish came from between 20 & 30 feet of water on tubes & spider grubs. He did manage to get a few fish out of the shallower water on senko’s and jigs as well, but it was really slow there. Being from the southern states, he hadn’t really experienced smallmouth fishing much before and left with sore arms from all the smallies he battled through the day. Fish over 5 pounds were landed and most of the 40 bass were over 3 pounds. There was also a bonus fish that he battled for several minutes on light line and a spider jig that amazed both of us. With a little luck and great difficulty, we actually boated a Muskie that must have weighed at least 30 pounds or more. This fish was really old looking and had several healed over scars on her back. It wasn’t the prettiest thing to look at, but it was impressive! This was Jack’s first ever sighting of a big Muskie and battle as well. After about a 10 minute reviving, she finally went on her way back to the depths where she belonged. Overall, I would have to rank this day on the water as one of the most entertaining ones this season. The bass were great as usual, but the Muskie was a real treat, for both!

I fished with Jacenty & Marco today on a local lake for smallmouth bass and what a day it was! We started out with beautiful sunshine and winds from the N/E at 5 to 10 knots and air temps about 60 degrees. Water temps were almost 65 degrees in some areas and slightly cooler in others. The cold nights are definitely beginning to chill the water, but the weeds are still healthy and don’t show any signs of decay as of yet. Unfortunately, the bass are spread out all over causing me to cover plenty of water through the day. This is not a bad thing though as I am finding plenty of fish by doing so! Marco drew first blood today as his first smallie went close to 4 pounds on a senko and put on quite an aerial show for us to see. Shortly after another slightly smaller and one more went to his credit before Jacenty started hooking up as well. We were seeing plenty of fish in the area that were 4 pounds or better, but had a difficult time getting them to bite and decided to try a little deeper for others more willing to eat. This proved to be a good decision as the numbers started to climb. Fish from 2 pounds to almost 4 pounds began coming aboard with tube jigs on a regular basis every couple of minutes. We had action! These fish were situated mostly in water around the 20 foot range with some even deeper and were hungry. Pass after pass dragging tubes over rocky areas were producing hook-ups on one or both of their rods as quick as they could get their lines out. This lasted for a few hours before it slowed and we were forced to try alternate areas nearby. Less fish were caught, but a few bigger fish came aboard including a nice walleye for someone’s dinner. Once the active period stopped, we hopped around trying to pick a fish here & there. Several more were taken, but it was slow. Just before we were to pack it in, I decided to try the deep water once more and instantly they were both locked up again. Several more drifts and a few more fish were hooked with Jacenty hooking up last. We thought he had a good one when it broke the surface only to find out he had hooked a fishing net that someone must have lost. Not exactly the trophy I had thought, but he did get to take it home! All in all a great day with at least 35 bass landed and plenty more lost up to almost 5 pounds!

Back on the water again today with Danny, Sam & Stephan on another local lake. The day was a total opposite of yesterday as the sun shined almost all day long. The air temps were once again quite cool as the north winds continued to blow. They were 5 to 15 knots at times and pretty chilly! Air temps never exceeded the mid 60’s and the water temps were around the same. I started them off with several different lures trying to determine the fish’s level of activity and found out that the jerk-baits got a reaction but the tubes were what some of them actually wanted. We drifted over areas and casted to spots that looked fishy only to come up with about a half dozen bites in a couple of hours. We saw plenty more bass that had no interest at all in our offerings and decided to try other options. Danny was the only one to land anything significant with one of his fish going over 4 pounds. « Good to be King » I told him, but that was soon about to change! In the afternoon we tried deeper water in pursuit of some of the larger smallies and could only come up with a fish here & there. I had them switch over to Senko’s as we moved slightly shallower and Steph was the first to rip lips with another 4 pound smallie. Sam also followed with another bass around the same size on a senko. Danny was soon about to feel the pain that he so easily dished out in the morning. Isn’t competition great! We stuck with the shallows for a while and had several hits and landed a few fish but I had to try the deep water once again. Dragging tubes and spider jigs in 10 to 30 feet of water had each of them getting the occasional pick up, but most fish were either missed or lost when they jumped. This day was to prove to be a tough one as 20 or so fish were actually landed with at lease that many more lost. There were even a few bite offs and a 10 pound northern landed as well as a couple of Muskie seen coming after the lures. Full moons and north winds are like the kiss of death it seems! It can only be looking up in the next few days, I hope!!